Notes On Fashion-y Attitudes

1. To all those label-loving girls who show contempt for other girls not dressed in head-to-toe labels, please stop. Stop with the catty comments, inflammatory insults, and snotty smirks. You can feel like a million bucks walking down the street with your Louis Vuitton Speedy without raining on someone else's parade. Just because your wardrobe costs more does not make you smarter, hotter, or better than a girl who shops at Target and thrifts for one-of-a-kind accessories. All it means is you spent more on what you're wearing.

2. To the fashion police--seriously, don't you have better things to do? We need more adventurous dressers in this world. Your attitudes ruin it for self-proclaimed fashion enthusiasts like myself, people who do not call themselves experts and dole out unwanted advice, and merely want to appreciate and understand fashion and see what others are doing with it. Being a fairly tame dresser myself, I admire people who push the envelope and take their layering experiments far beyond my (not particularly) wild dreams. You ruin it for me by planting the misconception that the fashionable are always evaluating, judging, and criticizing. You have no idea how many times my guy friends jokingly ask me "So is this a fashion don't? Does your expert opinion disapprove?" My response: A shrug, followed by something along the lines of "How the hell should I know? I just know what I like."

3. To the people who buy into rules like "Black and blue don't mix," please see #2 on this list. How the hell should the fashion police know? They just know what they like, and so should you. By the way, I wear blue and black together quite often, and I think it looks pretty damn good.

4. To the people who think fashion is superficial and unworthy of so much devotion, consider this: Fashion is a multi-billion dollar industry employing thousands all over the world, whether it's in textiles, production, PR, retail, publishing, etc. It's also one of the most democratic forms of self-expression. Not everyone will be gifted artistically, musically, or intellectually, but every person does have to dress him/herself in the morning.

5. To the fashion enthusiasts who do it for all the right reasons, please keep doing what you're doing. You have no idea how much your passion inspires those who dabble and those who dive in head first.

16 comments

Thanks for spreading the anti-fashion-police word. Though I'd like to add reverse snobbery to the list! I think it's just as irritating for people to look down on designer goods as for people to look down on non-designer goods.

YES I totally agree with everything said by you and by WendyB. We all just need to stop the hating. Fashion is about expressing oneself and making ourselves feel good by wearing clothes WE find pretty! Everyone just needs to stop being so pretentious and calling themselves "experts".

I think we can all refer to Meryl Streep's monologue in The Devil Wears Prada on the importance of the fashion industry.

Wow, I wasn't expecting to read that today. But it's totally true, that everyone should just let everyone dress the way they want. I like what I like, you like what you like, that's what makes us different. Otherwise we'll have clone dressing all around :P and that's just plain boring!

Right ON, lady. I'm constantly writing rules and guidelines and such, but that's because I need rules and guidelines to function MYSELF. I'd never shame or criticize anyone for not following my rules, their own rules, or ANY rules when it comes to dressing. Experimentation is freedom, and we should all fee freed by it.

Sal, that's exactly how I feel whenever I write how-to or advice posts--I'm just sharing what works for me in the hopes that it might be helpful to someone, not implying criticism of anyone who doesn't follow that advice.

Great post! it's the rules that I really hate. They don't stand for anything and they change daily - it would make anyone crazy!

Also, you asked about the purple tee I was wearing in one of the photos. It's not Esperanza - although I could totally see why you thought that. Actually it was made by the guys over at Epidemik Coalition: http://www.epidemikcoalition.com/

Great post! "Not everyone will be gifted artistically, musically, or intellectually, but every person does have to dress him/herself in the morning" -- That's one of the best validations for an interest in fashion that I've read in a long time. You remind me of why this has become so important to me and how it isn't just about being superficial and self-indulgent but really it's a bout self-expression and exploration.

I never like fashion police types who go around criticizing fashion donts but I do feel that at times there is a very 'basic' and even universal standard of what looks good. Some things just inherently don't match/look good and it's possible that everyone could have the same view even if they come from different cultures/societies. Sometimes I think the another factor that stifles creativity would be more of culture rather than the fashion police per say. Comments and weird looks from people are enough to keep one from trying out their most imaginative outfits.